Stricter rules for aid for senior citizens
The city’s Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs will now visit the houses of applicants for financial assistance to make sure that the applicant has reached the required age and is a resident of Cebu City, and to ensure further that the applicant indeed exists.
OSCA head Rolando Llaguno said they decided to implement changes in the guidelines owing to past experiences involving applicants with questionable backgrounds.
“There are those nga dili Sugbuanon. Before I assumed, bag- o pa ko ato, ambot ngano… how did it happen…but some of them were able to go through and enjoy ( the financial assistance) only to find out that some of them are not residents of Cebu City,” Llaguno said.
“Although there are guidelines, but wa na ma-implement pag-ayo. Ang uban murag questionable… tungod niini, ato na gyud nang gibantayan that’s why with the system now, it should be cleared,” he said.
The basic requirements for applicants are a birth certificate, a photocopy of the Senior Citizens ID, and a voter’s certification to prove that the applicant was registered in Cebu City before 2010 elections.
The City Treasurer’s Office is also evaluating the list of recipients to determine which ones are illegitimate beneficiaries.
The city has allocated P720 million for up to 60,000 senior citizens. At present, the city has registered 59,000 senior citizens who will each receive a total of P12,000 this year.
“Ang total number of senior citizens at the moment is already 59,000 with a budget limited up to 60,000 people. In other words, if there are those that will exceed, the number of 60,000, wala’y mahatag,” Llaguno explained.
OSCA stopped accepting applications since January 6, 2014 and will resume acceptance once the new system is in place.